


Redemption Of The Lost

by mitkit99



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: A lot of OC's, Alive Pietro, Betrayal, Evil Loki, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Fury Bashing, Grieving, Heimdall Knows All, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt Tony, Loki Bashing, Magic, Mentions of Death, Mind Control, Nick Fury Lies, PTSD, Rebuilding, Secret Identities, Siff Hates Loki, Steve Needs a Hug, Tony Needs a Hug, Tony has kids, Tony sings, Unrequited Love, a little swearing, mentions of past rape, post Age of Ultron, powerful tony, secrecy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-15 16:27:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7229974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitkit99/pseuds/mitkit99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toni thought her life with the Avengers was over. It was the past, a past she had put behind her and tried to never reminisce over. She has a great life now. She has a family, money, friends, a great job and more power and influence than she knows what to do with. She doesn’t want love, it’s too painful. And she’s ok, and happy.<br/>Then Fury comes calling. <br/>The man who ruined her life has now returned with her worst nightmare as a weapon. She must now return to New York and face her ex-teammates and former fiance and reveal secrets she has given everything to protect. Can she survive? Will Steve let her go once he realizes the truth?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: The Past Comes Calling

Chapter 1  
The Past Comes Calling  
2033  
Northern Ireland  
Toni looked out the window of her office with a smile on her face. She couldn’t help it. She was proud and happy of her life. It had changed so much in the past seventeen years.  
Seventeen years, had it really been that long? She knew it had, her heart still counted every second, traitorous thing that it was. It missed her life from before, a life she couldn’t go back to even if she wanted to, and she didn’t want to. At least that’s what she told herself in front of the mirror each morning.  
A small part of her did miss her life as an Avenger, though she would have to die to admit it. It missed the team. It missed the movie nights and dinners. It missed the companionship, the jokes, the laughter, and even the love. Most of all, it missed him.  
No, she couldn’t think like that. Relationships weren’t her thing. She had tried, several times in fact. Each ended with her heart in pieces. The last one ended with her life being destroyed and her reputation shattered by something that wasn’t her fault. The thoughts of that incident burned her mind and left her with a strong desire to hunt down Nick Fury and kick his ass so bad he’d be burping shoe leather. Why hadn’t he listened? She wasn’t an idiot, especially were this was concerned.  
It didn’t matter. He hadn’t listened and she and Rhodey had paid the price, a high price at that. There was nothing she could do to change that. All she could do was bury the pain under her work and new life, pretend that it didn’t hurt and it wasn’t suffocating her. She could pretend that she didn’t miss him so much she could barely breathe. She couldn’t hate him, he didn’t know the truth.  
‘Damn you Fury! I hope you rot in hell right beside Loki for this!’ Now that was harsh and she knew that. Loki deserved his own special place in hell for what he had done. Fury, he just didn’t listen and all she could do is wait for him to realize that.  
She shook her head. The past hurt and she couldn’t dwell in it and still be sane. It didn’t matter what she lost; only what she gained. She couldn’t think of him. Romance wasn’t meant for her, and if she ever wanted it she knew the local world traveler wouldn’t hesitate to be at her beck and call.  
She couldn’t do that to Tim though, or herself. Putting the two of them in that situation would only end in pain and heartache and she had had enough of both to last the rest of her eternity. She couldn’t lose another friend, not now.  
A knock on the door behind her brought her out of her musings. “Come in!” she called, clearing her voice of any emotion and replacing it with her practiced mask of indifference.  
It was Makayla Stevens, one of the searchers here and her friend. The woman was strict and didn’t mess around. The two of them butted heads quite often when they first met, they still did. When she and Rhodey told their story though, something changed. Mickey had seemed to develop a protective streak around the two of them, and the twins.  
She had to stop her mind from wandering.  
Mickey seemed to be agitated, annoyed and just generally pissed. Her green eyes were hard, and a scowl marked her pretty face. Her black curls were impeccable as always though she could see that the taller woman was doing everything in her power to not run her hands through the mass.  
“What’s wrong?” The question left her lips as panic seized her. Had something happened? Was one of the kids hurt? Were the twins hurt? “Did something happen to the kids?”  
The raven haired woman shook her head. “No, Liz and Alex are fine. Liz is with Emily and Sydney at the lake. Alex is with Carson, Julian, Nathan, Jackson, Marcus, and Elliot at the basketball court.”  
“Then what is it?” she was confused. Her kids were fine. Rhodey was down the hall in his office with his wife. Taylor was at the pool acting as a lifeguard. Timothy was in Asguard for the day hanging out with Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun. Doctor Selvig was in his lab looking at his notes for the millionth time. Pepper and Happy were in a meeting in Malibu. Siff was at her home, having just messaged her less than an hour ago. Odin and Frigga were fine. The vault was locked. The barriers were up and her supernatural senses had located every member of the facility. What was wrong?  
The air of anger returned around the searcher. “We have a visitor.”  
Toni’s eyebrow rose. A visitor? They didn’t get those often. The magic around the place kept most people from finding it. Seeing the silent invitation in the green eyes of her friend, she looked through her mind.  
No, it couldn’t be. Not now, not after all this time.  
“Send him in.” she could hear how hoarse her voice was.  
Makayla left the room to go fetch their guest. The brunette turned around and walked to the window, putting her hands on the sill. Why now? Her brown eyes looked out over the grounds of the place she called her home and life. It was a perfect day. The sun was shining. The sky was a pretty light blue with a few wispy clouds. She could see some of the younger kids laying on the lawn looking up, attempting to make pictures out of the white masses. Some of the older kids were playing frizz bee. Everything was perfect, how it should be.  
She heard him enter the room and Mickey shut the door to give them privacy. No one said a word as she felt him study her.  
He broke the silence after a few minutes. “Antonia Stark. It’s been a long time.”  
“Not long enough.” The words left her mouth and honestly, she didn’t regret them.  
He chuckled and she had to grip the wood beneath her fingers to avoid punching or sending a blast of power his way. “You haven’t changed a bit. Well, physically that is. How have you been?”  
She growled. “Cut the small talk. Why are you here? Why now, of all times?”  
He sighed. “The world needs you Stark. They need you.”  
Toni scoffed. “They need me? It’s been almost two decades. I think they could deal without me.” Not one word. From what Pepper and Happy had told her, not one person had mentioned her. It made her want to scream or punch them, punch him. Did she really mean nothing to him? They were together for two years, friends longer. They were engaged for crying out loud! How could he?  
She felt her heart break and tears come to her eyes before she blinked them away. Now wasn’t the time to break. She was stronger than that, better than that. He made his choice, they all did. They didn’t want her, and she wanted more than anything for that to be okay with her. But it wasn’t, she could lie to the world all she wanted but she couldn’t lie to herself. She missed them, missed him.  
Her guest spoke again, pulling her out of her thoughts. “I know, and I have checked every one of SHIELD’s resources before coming here. No one else can deal with this as well as you can.”  
“Deal with what?” What could be so bad that they would need her?  
The man took a breath. “He’s back, Toni. He has an army and the other two mind staffs.”  
She flung around to look at him. Her eyes widened as terror took hold of her. No, not again. Memories that she had done everything to block out her head came back and for just a moment, she felt as if she was locked back in her own head again with no way out and no one besides Rhodey realizing she wasn’t in control of her own body.  
Nick Fury had a grim look on his face, a look she remembered as well if she had seen it yesterday. He was a class A prick; she was the first to vouch for that. However, he wouldn’t lie to her, especially on this matter.  
‘Oh shit!’ were her thoughts as she staggered back and landed propped against the wall. Why? Why? Why?  
His eye met hers. “Now you know the circumstances. After what happened, you and Rhodes seem to be the most experienced with these weapons. You also have resources and information that are invaluable. I believe you also have a score to settle with Loki.” Damn right she did. She could almost see herself plunging her sword in his chest, or decapitating him with it. Sparks almost shot off her fingers at the thought of setting him on fire. A sadistic smile lit her face and Fury took a step back in trepidation. He really didn’t know what she was capable of but he could feel the power radiating off her in waves that almost knocked him to his knees.  
Yeah, Toni definitely hated Loki.  
A chuckle left her. “Let’s talk. But before we do, just know that you have to do some things before I agree.”  
Nick eyed her warily. “What do you mean? You want him dead and to be the one to kill him. Isn’t that enough?”  
She smirked. “Oh I will be the one to kill him. If I know anything, Thor will want Loki to face Asguardian justice for his crimes. Odin has already promised me the right to kill him, not that I wouldn’t be the one anyway with my position. You however need my help and the help of my people here and elsewhere to defeat him. I am ready to give that help, but you have to do something first.”  
He gulped. “What do I have to do?”  
Her eyes were hard and sharp and they felt like daggers were piercing him at all angles. “You have to tell them everything and I mean everything. They have to know what is going on. Every person I will bring into this knows the truth of what happened. This fight cannot be won if they don’t. You were the one who decided not to tell them, therefore, you will be the one informing them. There is no option. You tell them.”  
He gulped again. “And if I don’t”  
She smirked. “How would the public like it if this information got out? Hearing that they have been hating me for something I had no control of, which you let happen? It would cause mass riots, hell the government might get overthrown. You tell them, or I’ll send out the message.”  
Shit she wasn’t playing around. The public couldn’t know the truth, till he was able to come up with a story to explain everything. Everything could fall apart.  
He would have to tell the Avengers, there was no other choice. Fear filled him at the thought of that conversation. Hearing that they had been hating Toni for that would kill them, hell, they might kill him. Rogers would definitely be after his head, as would Banner, Barnes, and Barton. Thor would come after him with the hammer. Romanoff would snap his neck so quickly he wouldn’t have time to move.  
Either way, he was screwed. He knew she was right. They needed to know for them to win this fight and he grudgingly admitted he should have listened to Toni years ago and not hid this. Now it was coming to bite him the ass.  
Oh great, what had he done?


	2. Planning & Introductions

Chapter 2  
Planning and Introductions  
Tap tap tap. That was the sound of Toni’s nails as they hit her desk in thought as she stared at the chair Fury had vacated about ten minutes ago. He had gone to an inn in the closest town for the night and would be flying back to the States in the morning. Their conversation had been productive, somewhat. He had agreed to tell the Avengers but she had a sneaky suspicion he would do it only halfway, probably by using the wrong name. If that was the case, she better be prepared to hide her own identity which meant disguises for her and Rhodey and possibly Tim. Or, if she could, put him in a situation where he had no choice but to tell them.  
She’d worry about that when she got to the lab later. Now, she had to break the news to the rest of her colleagues.  
That caused a gulp, knowing how the conversation would go down. Rhodey, his wife Lauren, and Toni’s closest girlfriend and the other searcher here Taylor, would probably be understanding and sympathetic. Mickey would be pissed, yet still rational. Tim was the problem.  
Timothy Chase Lunar. Toni had known him for about five or six years now. He was cocky, annoying, an on purpose idiot, yet a good friend. He wanted more though and that was the problem. After she left the States and Steve she had sworn off all romance, even physical relationships although that had to do with the fact she had been raped and had gotten pregnant from said rape. While Tim knew that, he did his best to prove her wrong on the fact relationships were not meant for her. He brought her flowers, chocolates, jewelry, and even clothes. He used all the stuff he could find in cheesy movies that made her sick with all the sweetness. When he found out about her going to help the Avengers, even with Loki involved, he would be pissed. His brain would automatically assume she was doing it for Steve, which she wasn’t, she thinks.  
Yeah, Tim was complicated and she had to play her cards very carefully. She couldn’t lose him as a friend and their business relationship couldn’t be strained for either of them to do their jobs.  
It made her head ache. When had her life become so complicated? Did it start with the Loki mess or her joining the Avengers? Or did it go back as far as Afghanistan?  
Toni groaned. “I really need a vacation.” Like she could get one! She ran a sanctuary for people with supernatural powers. She was the Ambassador amongst all dimensions. She was head of the Council of the Nine Realms and a highly decorated member of Odin’s council. On top of all that she was a parent. She had an alternate ego, far more important and recognized than the title Iron Maiden.  
That mess had started when she left the US; that was recognizable. Fury had insisted she stopped being publically known as Toni Stark so if Loki returned no one would know where she was. If? Loki was a miserable, conniving son of a bitch who had ruined her life. He had already returned to take over the world after failing once. He was stubborn and was like a child. Pretty, shiny, give me! That’s how he was. He was going to return, the only question was when.  
So Fury had given a shitty excuse to attempt to cover up that he was trying to protect his own ass. He knew if Steve, the Avengers, or the public found out that he had known she had been hit with the third mind staff and he had let her take the fall for something that wasn’t her own fault he would have lost everything. The board had been clear after New York; Fury would have lost his job if another member was lost to mind control. If they had found out about Toni being locked in her own head for six months because of the third mind staff, they would have had his ass. Fury sold her out to protect himself and lied to almost everyone about it.  
He was still lying, or trying to not knowing she knew he was. Loki only had one of the mind staffs, the most powerful one, but only one. Fury had attempted to make her believe he had the fourth and fifth when he only had the fifth.  
The mind staffs were five staffs, each made of a different material. The lowest of power was the first one, the Stone Staff. The second was the Iron Staff. The third, the one she had been under, was the Bronze Staff. The fourth, the one Fury lied about, was the Silver Staff. The one Loki had was the fifth and final one known as the Gold Staff. They caused mind control, technically. If you were hit by the blast, and the staff that hit you was activated correctly, you would be under their control. The power would lock you in the back of your own head where you could see and hear what was going on but not be able to control your own body. The levels of power only stated the strongest of control. The Bronze Staff allowed her to gain a little control if she put her entire energy behind it. The Stone Staff allowed the one under control to fight and gain long bursts of control. The Gold Staff had you under complete control with no attempt of fighting back. That was the one Loki had.  
When she had gotten her powers she had been able to gain the location of every mind staff. The Iron and Stone Staff were already in the Asguardian Vault. She put the Bronze Staff in there when she had been pregnant with the twins. She had gone on a mission for Odin and the other councilmen and had found the Silver Staff and put it in there. That was the one Fury lied about. Loki only had the Gold Staff.  
Did Fury honestly not know? Or did he know, and was trying to force her to come by lying about the severity? It wasn’t that he was lying. The Gold Staff was the most powerful and the most dangerous. She would have come back anyway to stop it and execute Loki, so why did he lie?  
She would figure it out later, now she had to go to the lab and open her hidden project, a project only she, Rhodey, Erik, and Piper Roberts knew of. Even Tim had no idea it existed and he knew almost everything. Quickly she shut down her computer, put all of her files away, and left her office. She headed out of the main building and down the walkway smiling and greeting people that she passed.  
The labs were in simple gray building about a five minute walk from her office. It was pretty big, considering it held her personal lab, Piper’s lab, Erik’s lab, and the other science classes of the place and no, she did not run a school, technically.  
She ran the SFTG, also known as The Sanctuary For The Gifted. It was a learning facility and safe haven for people with supernatural abilities that she had started up about nine years ago, when the twins were seven. Most of the members were teenagers, Piper herself only being fourteen. Most of them were also siblings, something about sharing genes and superpowers being related. If one sibling or two had an ability, the other kid was almost guaranteed to get one.  
On the way down to her lab she passed Piper, one of her favorite kids. She had the gift of knowledge, a natural genius like Toni herself. The only difference was, whenever Piper needed information, she would have it pop into her head. Her full name was Piper Kayla Roberts. Her older sister was Paisley Alison Roberts who was sixteen. She had the gift of pschometry; she knew the past of every object she touched. She could also witness events by touching an object that had been in the room when the event happened.  
Piper was in her lab, having just packed up her latest project. Her normal white lab coat was off, revealing a light blue top with a little bit of white in it, light blue jeans, and mid-calf white boots that had a slight heel. Her dark brown, almost black hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail that had a thick braid running through it on the left side. Her makeup was light, only a light pink color on her lips and natural pink color around her blue green eyes. She was the exact opposite of her sister. Piper was the bookworm, the brainiac. Paisley was bright, energetic, and could talk a mile a minute while Pipe was soft spoken and quiet. Paisley looked different to with wavy golden hair and bright green eyes. The only way you could tell they were related was their facial shape, nose and lips. Piper apparently looked and acted more like their father while Paisley was the spitting image of their mother, not that Toni knew either of their parents. Most of the kids here were orphans or runaways who had left either because they had no choice or it was easier if they left. Piper and Paisley had lost the parents in a boating accident when they were nine and seven. They had come here a few years later when they were twelve and ten. That was four years ago.  
She passed by Erik’s office next. He had been working with SHIELD and had been one of the only people to know that she had been under the Bronze Staff’s power. When she set up the facility, she reached out and offered him a place. He had accepted and now worked in the lab and taught some of the kids basic science and mythology considering he was still in contact with Thor. Today he wore a white and blue plaid button down, a bright red tie, dark navy trousers, dark blue shoes, a black leather belt, a silver watch with a navy blue face, and his reading glasses adorning his face. His hair was a mess from him running his hands through it but he still didn’t look fifty, much less to be in his early seventies. He was buried deep in an experiment.  
Yeah, immortality was the new thing apparently. She had met a bothersome witch over fifteen years ago that had decided to help her out and make everyone she loved and could immortal. The Avengers, Coulson, the staff here, Erik, the spouses of the Avengers, Pepper and Happy, Rhodey, even Fury and Agent Hill. She also granted the kids here to be immortal as a sixteenth birthday gift. Almost all of them accepted, though some did wait till they were eighteen.  
She continued on to her lab and walked into the familiar room with a sigh of nostalgia. She had been so busy recently; she only was in here about half the time she used to be before Loki had ruined her life. She couldn’t be in here as often. On top of running the SFTG, she was a mother of sixteen year old twins, the mother figure for twenty-five other kids, an advisor to Odin, king of Asguard, a consultant to Captain Fernald the leader of Asguard’s army, the leader of the Council of the Nine Realms, executioner of those who threatened the safety of realms and dimensions alike, and the retriever of mystical items. She had no time what so ever to do an inventing binge like she used to.  
Shaking her head, Toni moved to the computer and pulled up the files she was looking for. Unlike Fury, Toni knew that Loki would return and with a vengeance. For the past seventeen years she had been creating the antidote for the mind staffs, and blockages for the powers of the staffs and any other magical item Loki had. She had done it all. In her free time, she had done something she had not known if she would ever be able to make. She had created suits and coatings for weapons and other trinkets for the Avengers that could reflect magic. It was her number one secret, one she had done in an attempt to bring back to good old days whenever the pain of missing her old life got too much to bear. When she designed the uniforms and weapon upgrades, she could almost believe she was back in New York in her labs, that if she could turn to her right she would see Bruce beside her or behind and see Steve sketching her. Either that or she could see Clint wondering about new arrows or the plans for Bucky’s arm. She could almost feel Pierto running around the lab, trying to see if he could grab one of her tools and shoot off, her only knowing when he would laugh in amusement and delight when he succeeded. She could hear Wanda and Natasha berating him before having Thor come down, rejoicing that he had taken it back and able to restore it to her, unharmed. She could see Coulson roll his eyes at the antics and Fury yell and huff at them while Maria just looked bored. She could see Jane and Darcy attempt to teach Thor about Midguard and all of their customs. She could see Steve attempting to coerce her out of the lab before finally picking her up and over his shoulder with her screaming at him to put her down. She could see Vision looking at her weirdly as Steve took her through the living room. She could almost feel Steve chuckling as he set her down in her bedroom and held her to keep her from running straight down to the lab. She could feel his lips on hers as he distracted her enough to get her to go to the bed. She could hear his heartbeat as she laid down on his chest and buried her face in his neck. She could feel every touch, hear every sound, see everything in her bedroom, she could smell his shampoo, and she could almost taste the slight saltiness of his skin. She could…  
She was sobbing she realized. She was in her lab, on the floor in front of her workshop table, the Captain America design up on her computer. She was crouched on the floor sobbing as memories of the days of her life as an Avenger hit her in waves. She then was lost in the memories of the blast, of when she came down to the lab to find Loki waiting for her, of the days and nights that she spent locked in her head begging for someone to realize it wasn’t her in control of her own body. She was transported to the cell back in SHIELD’s headquarters as Loki raped her in front of her best friend. She was back in that small hotel room in London as she found out her pregnancy test was positive and knew that only that monster could be the father. She could feel the pain as she realized she was going to die not meeting her children since no human could survive a pregnancy with the father being Asguardian, or whatever Loki was with her case.  
She had survived. Odin had demanded she be brought to Asguard where she was given top medical help and given supernatural powers that not only caused her to live but also made her one of the most powerful beings to currently exist. That was when she became Layla Claire Grey.  
She wiped at her eyes, forcing the tears to stop as she magically fixed her makeup and got up, staring at the screen. Her fingers reached put and traced the holographic image of the suit, mainly the bright star. A sad smile crossed her face as she touched it. “Do you miss me love? Pepper hasn’t told me in any of her letters, neither has Happy or Fury though I doubt he would, the bastard. I know, I shouldn’t curse but too bad. So much has happened; I wanted to call so many times. Everything that happened, all I wanted to do was pick up the phone, but I knew better. Fury hasn’t told you anything. It doesn’t matter. He will or at least give you enough for you to not want to strangle me next time you see me. And you will see me soon. I just have a few more things to do before I’m coming back and ending this nightmare. I’ll be at peace when I leave you again. Will you?” with a heavy heart she shrunk the image and sent it to the processer so she could have the uniforms and weapons made and ready for when she left for New York.  
By the time she was done and everything was ready, it was late. The sky was dark, deep blue and black showing twinkling stars overhead that she could see through the clear air. She headed out the door of the lab and down the path way to the road at the end that headed down to where the houses were. Hers was in the back, a modest house compared to what she normally had before all this mess with Loki. It was two stories not including the basement and attic. It had five bedrooms, a kitchen, the master bedroom and bathroom, one half bath, one laundry room, one dining room, one office, four bathrooms, one living room, and personal garage. She had turned two of the bedrooms into a small lab and conference room. The basement had a home theatre, a game room, a mini kitchen, a home gym, and a music room. The garage was where she had her favorite car, her motorcycle, her daughter’s car, her son’s car, and both of their motorcycles. All three had their bikes there as well. Everyone else besides Rhodey and Lauren, Tim, Mickey, and Taylor had their cars in the facility’s garage. Toni herself had a red mustang convertible with a slick red Ducati motorcycle and red bike with gold and black highlights. Her daughter had a bike, motorcycle, and car in the same pretty light turquoise while her sons were a shiny black.  
She ran her hand over the glossy paint of her hood before heading in through the door and stepping into the house and landing in her kitchen. Her brown eyes barely paid attention to the stainless steel appliances or the soft leather couches in the living room. She immediately made her way up the steps to her bedroom where she sat her bag on the bed before leaving and heading down the hall. She reached her son’s room first and stepped in quietly to brush her hand through his dark brown hair and pressing a kiss on his forehead. Smiling silently when he nuzzled her hand she whispered goodnight and left.  
Her daughter was awake. Liz was sitting on her bed, legs crossed underneath her as she typed furiously at her turquoise laptop. Her brown hair was pulled into a messy side ponytail that hung over her shoulder. She was dressed in a white t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it, with matching black shorts that also had multiple copies of the cartoon mouse and black furry slippers.  
“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” she questioned quietly, smiling at the fact her daughter didn’t jump which meant she knew she was there and her supernatural abilities, courtesy of her sperm donor, were working.  
A chuckle left her oldest child’s lips. “Probably, however Aunt Taylor has given me an essay for extra credit on the Roman Empire. It has to be from beginning to end and at least five pages. I’m at fifteen as we speak.”  
Toni’s eyes slightly widened. “Only fifteen. Knowing you as I do, you’ve been working for hours.”  
“Four hours, mom. I started as soon as we got back from dinner. At least I’m working and actually researching. All Alex did was teleport back in time and watch a gladiator fight and wrote a five and a half page paper on the every detail of it. I told him not to by the way, especially after he went back that one time and saw some guy get decapitated.” The sixteen year old smirked at the fact that she was tattling on her younger twin.  
The inventor sighed in exasperation. She felt bad for her mother and Jarvis as she knew she was about as bad when she was young. The only difference is she didn’t have powers then, unless you counted her brain. Her daughter could create illusions so palpable that she could make you believe there was blizzard in the Bahamas in July. Her son could teleport to any place, whether it be on earth or Asguard, or even another dimension or time. He had a love of fighting and gladiator fighting was his favorite. He used any excuse to be able to go watch one. The incident Liz mentioned was their sixteenth birthday when he travelled, not to the Coliseum, but to Pennsylvania and watched Gettysburg take place. He watched some soldier get shot in the head and had said head blown off by said bullet. After that, Toni had told him that if he were to travel back, he had to have her or Rhodey’s permission and one of them or Mickey or Taylor had to go with him. To hear that not only had he not told her, but he went without a chaperone gave her a headache of mass proportions. Not that she didn’t already have one, with the Cyclops’ visit and hearing of Loki’s return and possession of the Gold Staff and all.  
Elizabeth sensed her frustration and exhaustion that went deeper than her hearing that her annoying younger twin brother had broken the rules again. “Something wrong?”  
Toni caught her eyes and Liz could see how tired and scared she was, something she didn’t show often, normally only to Rhodey, Siff, Frigga, Lauren, Taylor, Mickey, and sometimes Tim. Something had happened, and it was going to change everything.  
Her mother sighed. “Nothing you need to worry about tonight. I’ll tell you and Alex in the morning. I’ll be telling the others in a meeting tomorrow before releasing the info. Just sleep.” She walked forward and brushed the hair back, that had come loose from the hairband, from Liz’ face.  
Slowly, the teen shut her laptop and sat it on her nightstand before laying down. “Mom, can you sing that lullaby you used to sing when Alex and I were little, the one about the stars?”  
Toni’s eyes softened as she let the words of an old Italian lullaby her mother had once sang to her came out of her mouth.   
Liz was asleep by the time she was done singing. Smiling softly, she repeated the action she did with her son and kissed her forehead before leaving the room and heading to her own bedroom. She changed quickly into her own sleepwear, a white tank top with Mickey and Minnie Mouse kissing and long red pants with the same image. She let her dark hair down from its half up, half down style and took off her makeup. Feeling as clean as she could be without a shower, she climbed under the dark red comforter as drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what originally only been the first part of Chapter 2. I decided to split it in half. The second part or Chapter 3 should be coming right after. Oh and the song is Constant As The Stars Above from Barbie's Rapunzel. I haven't watched the movie in years however I love the song.


	3. Chapter 3

Groaning, Toni cracked her eyes opened and looked at the clock on her bedside table. 7:02. Great. What happened to the days she would die before waking up at 9:00 at the earliest? She knew the answer, life.  
Slowly, she got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Catching her eyes in the mirror, she looked at the dark circles under her eyes, the same that had been there since she left the US. Was the last time she had a peaceful night sleep was the night before she got hit with the Bronze Staff? Yes, it was. Steve had dragged her from the lab to bed at about 10:30, saying that he wasn’t going to let her fall asleep in the lab since she had been down there for three and half days.  
Shaking her head to clear all thoughts of her former fiancé, she undressed slowly and hopped in the shower, scrubbing off the invisible feeling of Loki’s hands that still haunted her after seventeen years. When she stepped out, her skin was red from scrubbing. Sliding on some lotion and other ointments, she brushed her teeth and blow-dried her hair. Going to the closet, she pulled out her outfit; a dark green cropped short sleeve shirt with cuts in the back, a button down dark denim skirt, a tan leather jacket, and tan leather boots. She set the shoes and jacket on her bed before returning to that bathroom to put on makeup. She chose a nice brown smoky color to go with her chocolate brown eyes and a light pink lipstick after using concealer and foundation to make her face look perfect, not that she needed it. Magic had its uses and she would never have to deal with blemishes again, or diseases for that matter. It also took care of the dark circles under her eyes and made her look refreshed. After she was done, she walked into the bedroom where her dresser was an looked in her jewelry box was. Digging around, she pulled out green studs, a gold heart necklace with green and white gems covering it, and a gold and green three layer beaded bracelet. Satisfied, she slid her boots on and took her jacket downstairs.  
She sat it next to her tan purse that sat on one side of the counter, while she went to work on breakfast. Eggs, toast, bacon, grits, and pancakes were the choices today and knowing her kids, it would be gone in a minute.  
Halfway through cooking she heard the door open. She reached out with her powers to find out it was Rhodey. “Sour patch, what can I do for you this morning?” she said, using his old nickname.  
He chuckled. “Old school Tones, really, run out of everything already?” he moved behind her and kissed her on the cheek. “How you doing? You feel tense.”  
She huffed. “And I thought it was Nathan that had the gift of empathy.” Nathan Lucas Michaels was one of the eighteen year olds at the SFTG. He had coffee colored brown hair and eyes. He was a rare case, with no siblings, but that was the cause of his situation. His mom was in high school when she got pregnant. His father left her on her own. Her parents isolated her to her own house, far away from anyone they knew. She had been killed in a house fire when Nathan was four. He had been taken to the closest orphanage, where he stayed till he was seven which was when he ran away. He ran into Lauren, Rhodey’s wife when she was passing through Dublin when he was ten, about a year after Toni started the work on the facility. She brought him here and he had latched onto Taylor. He was ten at the time. Currently, he was eighteen, and one of the most popular boys here. He was dating Hailey Faith Casten, one of the seventeen year olds. She was pretty, with long straight blonde hair and big brown eyes. Her power was summoning; she could summon any object from anywhere in the world or dimensions or time at will, all she had to do was picture it in her head.  
Rhodey shook his head. “No, I’m not Nathan. My power is massive strength. Remember copycat? I just know you well.” When Toni had gotten her power, he had gotten something as well. He got strength, basically combine the Hulk, Thor, Steve, and Bucky and that was Rhodey. Toni had multiple powers, well multiple main powers. She was a locator; she could locate any magical object of person with magical abilities in existence. She was a knowledger. She knew everything she needed to know about every power in existence and how to use it. She was an enhancer, meaning she could enhance the power of anyone she found worthy. She was a diminisher, meaning she could diminish power if she found the owner unworthy. She was a giver, she could give people power if they needed it. She was a destroyer; she could take away power of anyone untrustworthy. She was also an absorber or copycat as Rhodey put it. Tim called her a sponge. Any power she came into contact with, she would absorb into her and be able to use at will at any time or place. Every person on the council, in Asguard, in all the realms and dimensions she had been to, every person at the SFTG, every person she had every encountered that had supernatural abilities had been copied by her and was now at her disposal.  
Yeah, she was powerful.  
“What is it Toni?” he questioned, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Don’t tell me it’s nothing. I know you better than that.”  
She took a breath before turning around and hugging him. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled herself to his ear where she whispered, “It happened. Fury showed up in my office yesterday. Loki’s back and he has the Gold Staff.”  
She felt and heard Rhodey’s sharp intake of breath. “When do we leave?” he choked out.  
She winced at how much pain she heard and felt from him. His life had been almost as affected as hers was. “Later this week. I have to finalize the plan and finish getting the equipment done. I personally am leaving for New York on Friday. I booked my flight last night.”  
“Just a week, so soon. Damn, that’s too soon.” Rhodey whispered, knowing today was Saturday just as she knew. “Wait, you said you are leaving Saturday. What about me?”  
She smiled knowing he had caught on. “I need you to stay here an extra week and make sure every defense and protection here is up. I also need you here to make sure the twins are okay. I’m wanting Mickey, Taylor, and Lauren to remain here to run the facility. I want Tim in Asguard talking to Odin and more importantly the council about aid and resources. Fury says besides the Avengers, SHIELD agents are the only aid he can offer. The truth is going to come out, Rhodey. This is it. Fury will be done with SHIELD and will be fired and he knows that. The president and the UN might give me aid once they learn what happened, but that doesn’t mean we will get it in time for an actual fight. The council might be our only option and if they don’t help, we are on our own.”  
He nodded, seeing her reasoning. “I get it. I know. My problem is will you be ok? This is going into to be bring back a lot of memories. I don’t want you to have a flash terror and Tim or I not be there.”  
Toni knew what he meant. Having super powers had its uses but it also had its drawbacks. Instead of normal flashbacks, she had flash terrors. She would basically relive every major negative thing related to the issue. If she had one bad enough, which hadn’t happened yet, she could have one that brought forth every horrible thing she remembered happening. That would include her father’s abuse, the mess that was her late mid to late teens plus her early twenties, Afghanistan, Obie’s betrayal, palladium poisoning, New York, the Mandarin fight, Ultron, the mess with the Gold Staff, the rape, her pregnancy, and every horrible thing she could think of that happened after. It would be a nightmare, but Rhodey were prepared for it to happen here. If Rhodey wasn’t with her and the Avengers were…  
She couldn’t think of that, neither of them could. “If it happens, we will deal. I promise. We’ve dealt with everything else.” She looked him in the eye and knew he knew exactly who and what she was talking about.  
He nodded and they were silent as she turned to finish breakfast and he sipped his coffee he had brought from his place. He broke it as she did finish and start setting the plates out on the table for the twins. “Is it ever gonna get easier? Are we ever gonna be able to say it doesn’t hurt?”  
His voice was quiet but the question seemed to ring out like trumpets in her quiet kitchen. Her mind flew back in time to the event he was talking about, when they lost the other part of their friendship triad. She had been twenty-one, just starting to get over the death of the only man besides Steve she ever really loved and thought about spending her life with, when she had gotten the worst news of her life. She had been forced to watch the one person besides Rhodey at the time who she would die for, the most vibrant person she knew, fade away to nothing in a hospital bed, the fates not caring that she was only twenty-five and leaving behind her two best friends who needed her more than life itself. “No, I don’t think it will.” She answered, fighting back tears of pain and sorrow that thought it had been two decade since the event would not fade or heal.  
They were silent again, both lost in memory of the beautiful red head that had changed their lives.  
“I’m gonna go and get the others to meet to talk about the plans. Does noon work for you?”  
She nodded and watched him start to leave only for him to turn around and come back. He yanked her small frame in a hug and held onto her. “Don’t worry for now. Everything will be ok.” He whispered. She nodded against his chest before he let go and left.  
It only took about ten minutes for the twins to come down, both clean and dressed to face the day. Liz, her baby girl, was dressed in a black t-shirt with one sleeve hanging down past her shoulder that read ‘LOVE’ in giant white letters, white shorts, black and white converse, and black ball earrings that had a rhinestone ball on top of them. Her brown hair was pulled up in a complicated bun with braids running through it that nicely showed off her natural eye makeup and pink lips. Alex, her mischief maker, was dressed in ripped denim jeans, a grey shirt that read, ‘PLUTO NEVER FORGET’ with a picture of the planet or whatever it was nowadays, gray tennis shoes, and a dark gray ball cap over his messy brown hair.  
“Morning Mom.” They chirped in harmony as they moved to get something to drink. Her son, weird as he was, went straight to the fridge for orange juice while her daughter went straight to the coffee maker. At least one of her children took after her in that department.  
“Morning kids.” She sat at the table with her cup of coffee while the other two members of the house came and sat down and began breakfast.  
She waited a second before speaking again. “I had a visitor yesterday.”  
They both looked up from their food, both knowing as she did how rare that was here. She had and Reese, their resident witch, had made sure the facility had a magic border could get in. No normal person needed to stumble on this place. “Really?” Alex asked around a mouth full on pancakes.  
She nodded. “Yep, apparently a certain director decided to show up and have a little chat about a certain issue that needs my help and expertise.”  
Liz gulped down the piece of egg she had taken a bite out of. “Fury was here?”  
Toni nodded. Alex continued where his twin left off. “Does that mean that you know who is back?” She met their eyes and nodded again.  
She was going to kill Tim. I mean, yes she cursed and yes, she cursed as a teenager. That however didn’t mean that her babies needed to be cursing at sixteen. Both of the two teens flat out started dropping swear words back and forth like it was the end of the world, though if Toni and the Avengers didn’t do their job right, it could be just that.  
“Quiet!” she said sharply, getting both of them to calm down and look at her sheepishly with the fire that showed the Stark in them blazing in their matching sets of brown eyes. “I know, this is not convenient, but we all knew this was coming. I am leaving for New York this upcoming Friday. Rhodey will be following me the week after. With how he fights, this will be over in about a month at the earliest. This won’t take long.”  
Liz spoke first. “We know Mom, we aren’t worried about that. We are worried about how you are gonna handle this. We aren’t stupid Mom; we have your brains after all. We know that what happened still hurts you, whether you admit it or not. We don’t want you getting hurt again and this may cause that.” Alex nodded in agreement at his older sister’s words.  
Toni smiled at the two of them. “I get that. Trust me, I do. I’m doing this, and I know, I am probably going to get hurt again, but I need to do this. I need to finish this once and for all and the only way to do that is to face them and kill Loki. I can’t get any better unless I get closure and this will offer that.”  
They couldn’t argue with that.  
Sighing they both nodded in agreement that she was right and that this was the only way to go and sat down to finish eating. The three of them were silent and Toni just couldn’t deal with it so she decided to do something about it. Shooting Liz a look, she turned to Alex. “So Alex, I’ve been meaning to as you. How was Rome?”  
Her son’s brown eyes widened, before he turned to look at his sister who was grinning ear to ear. “Traitor!” he hissed, causing both his mother and sister to laugh.  
ST-ST-ST  
“You’re what?” Tim yelled the question as he sat up straight in his chair at the conference table.  
Toni rolled her eyes at the dramatics the eight hundred year old world traveller and Midguard representative displayed. “Do you really want me to repeat what I just said?” she asked in exasperation that almost had Rhodey and Mickey laugh. Lauren looked stoic except for the small smile on her face while Taylor giggled.  
Tim looked back and forth between the five other adults in the room in confusion. “How are you all calm? Loki is coming back! You and Rhodey are having to go back to New York! How am I the only one freaking out about this?”  
The brunette fought to not roll her eyes again. That wasn’t what he was worried about and he wasn’t fooling anyone. He was jealous. He knew that if she went back to New York she would have to see and talk to Steve. He knew if this were to get done, Steve would have to know the truth and even Toni knew that unless his feelings really had changed, which from what Heimdall had said the last time she was in Asguard they hadn't, he would fight to keep her in New York at his side and would attempt to restart their relationship. Toni would fight, she would, to make sure she left the States still single, but she knew that her resolve was at least a little weak.  
When she had left the house after the twins had already gone off for the day, she had met up gone to the lab and relook everything over before saving everything and starting the process of building the weapons and trinkets for the Avengers. She would have to wait to get to New York for her make the costumes because she had to redo her measurements to make sure they hadn’t changed. After spending about an and a half in the lab she had left to head to the meeting.  
She had found all five of the other staff members ready when they got there all waiting for her to arrive and sit down.  
Directly to her right was Rhodey who hadn’t changed from his outfit this morning; a dark blue button up, black trousers, black tennis shoes, and a black leather watch with a silver outline and black face. His only jewelry was his silver wedding ring. His hair was in the same buzz cut as it had been for most of the time she had known him.  
His wife Lauren was next to him. She was gorgeous as always, with her long blonde hair pulled back in half up style while the rest of it was left in waves. Her curvy body was dressed in a lacey bubblegum pink top, faded blue jeans, and white heels. Her only jewelry was her silver wedding band and silver engagement ring that had a single diamond at the top of it. The ring had been Rhodey’s mother’s. Her makeup was some silvery white eye shadow that nicely brought out her brown eyes and pink lips, the same color as her shirt.  
To Toni’s left was Taylor Elise Bond, the her closest girlfriend besides Pepper, Siff, and her, the one that shall not be named for fear of breaking down in tears, and she couldn’t do that now. Tay was just as pretty as Lauren, with stick straight, long, light brown hair that fell the her waist and stunning hazel eyes. Today her hair was pulled in a complicated side braid that fell over her right shoulder. Her body was dressed in a long sleeve light blue crop top that had a fabric band that wrapped around her back, a black skater skirt with a small leather belt, and light blue heels. The only jewelry she had were a pair of diamond studded earrings. Her makeup was a sparkly light pink and her lips were a natural pink color.  
Mickey sat to Taylor’s left. Her black curls were left loose to tumble over her shoulders. She was dressed in tight red corset blouse, a knee length black pencil skirt, and black stilettoes. She wore minimum eye makeup that brought out her deep green eyes and bright red lipstick that made her look dangerous and sexy at the same time.  
Tim was directly across from her seat. Today he was dressed in a long blue sleeve shirt while the rest of it was white, light grey jeans, and a navy blue tennis shoes. He had the watch she had given him for Christmas on his left wrist; it was silver with a navy blue face. A dark blue ball cap was over his tousled blonde hair. His brown eyes were focused on her, mainly her legs and other skin her shirt showed, and his classic smirked adorned his lips.  
When she had sat down, she had started the meeting like always. They talked about normal stuff such as the kids progress with school, the weekends activities, the start of planning for the Fourth Of July party since Rhodey and Toni insisted on even though they weren’t in the States, and other mundane stuff. Then Mickey had opened her mouth asked ‘Why the hell did that one eyed, sorry excuse of a director for the worst agency on the planet had dropped by yesterday?’ and Toni had had no excuse but to answer and had told them about Loki’s return and her and Rhodey’s agreement to return to fight.  
This brought them their current issue. When Toni had finished, the other girls and Rhodey had stayed quiet while Tim had a freaking conniption fit. He was strongly against her returning which is exactly what she knew would happen and dreaded thinking of.  
As previously mentioned, she had known Tim officially for about five or six years. They had actually met years earlier, considering he was on the Council of the Nine Realm as the representative for Midguard, a job he had been chosen for when he was still mortal in medieval England, about 1250 AD. He had the gift of knowledge, far more advanced than Piper. He just automatically knew everything, and Toni meant everything. That knowledge had been what intrigued her about him. They had started talking at the reception and had immediately hit it off. Three weeks later, he showed up and asked if it was ok he stayed. The kids loved him because of how charismatic and all. He taught history and literature to all the kids, spending most days telling kids about different worlds that he travelled to in the eight centuries he had lived through.  
It hadn’t taken Toni long to realize he was in love with her, or close to it. She had taken him aside and had explained her stance on relationships and history of failure at romance. He had sworn he would be different and when she still refused he decided he would do whatever he could do to sweep her off her feet.  
Her issues with love were not the only reason she turned the blonde down.  
He was the representative of Earth on the council. If they broke up, their business relationship would suffer and she couldn’t let that happen.  
They just might suffer anyway.  
“Look, as I told the kids, this sucks ass. I hate that we have to do this now, but we have no choice. Loki needs to be stopped and I am going to be the one to do this and finish the mess that started seventeen years ago. If that means working with the Avengers, it’s a price I’ll have to pay. I need closure.”  
Mickey smiled before shrugging her shoulders. “I’m fine with this. As you said, you and Rhodes need closure. You two had your lives destroyed and had to rebuild everything. I mean, yeah, you still have contact with Happy and Pepper, and those two others you talk about, Enrique and Mr. Cross?” when they nodded that she was correct. “but besides that, you two lost everything and everyone you ever knew. I mean, Toni, you were engaged to freaking Captain America and had been in a relationship for about two years with him, nice taste by the way, he’s gorgeous. If this is what you two need, go for it.”  
Taylor nodded. “I’m good to. You two need this and it’ll make a lot of people feel safer if Loki’s dead and you need to be the one to kill him Toni. This is what you need.”  
Lauren agreed as well. “You need this, both of you do. You need to deal with this past and this is the only way you are going to be able to. This is your chance to say goodbye if you need it.” Rhodey smiled at his wife and kissed her cheek making her blush.  
“You are ok with this?” Tim yelled at them, looking as if they were crazy.  
They all nodded, causing him to make a weird noise in anger and leave.  
They all stared after him as he left, Mickey in annoyance since she had always had a problem with him. Taylor and Lauren just stared at him bored at his childish behavior. Rhodey just rolled his eyes.  
Toni just stared at the door in contemplation as one question ran through her mind.  
What would happen now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's what would have originally been the second half of Chapter 2.  
> I have no idea when Chapter 4 will be up. However, if the way this is going, Steve and the Avengers will finally be in it.  
> What do you think of the other characters, especially Tim? I wanted to add a little bit of conflict. besides the mess with Loki. After Toni leaves for New York he won't really be in it till the fight with Loki, though he will be mentioned a lot.  
> Enrique, Mr. Cross, the only other person Toni thought of settling down with, and the mystery member of the triad friendship will be coming in later as well. If anyone can guess anything about them, whether it be their gender, age, relationship to Tony and or each other, or even a guess about what happened to them, will get a shout out.  
> I'll update again when ever I can. Till then, I'll be seeing you around.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story here. It's kind of a test run. I have been previously posting on fanfiction.net but some glitching came up when I tried to update earlier, and I got annoyed so I'm moving the story here.   
> You can find me on polyvore. I have an account also under mitkit99 and some of my outfits coordinate with my story. They have the title, chapter, and person in their name.  
> I have no idea when I will update this after I get the three chapters I have written. Just stay on the look out and I'll post as soon as I can.


End file.
